


show me your teeth

by uwuxuxi



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Convenience Store, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Boys in Skirts, M/M, Magical Realism, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Square: Liminal Spaces, Vampires, but make it magic.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:14:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28826517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uwuxuxi/pseuds/uwuxuxi
Summary: The fridge in the corner of the store, the one Xuxi knows is stocked with the Arizona iced teas, leaks in heavy drops. He thinks it’s because it shares a wall with the freezer stocked high with bags of ice but he’s not paid to think, he’s paid to sit behind the counter overnight in the bodega—corner store, Kun insists, but the owner is a pretty Mexican woman and her Korean spouse so Xuxi is going to call it the bodega that it is—mind his business, and play his Switch when there’s no one in the store.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 18
Kudos: 90
Collections: THE COLLECTION





	show me your teeth

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i am back with a luren fic to apologize for my first entry into the tag...being kinda sad. i hope you enjoy!
> 
> for the liminal spaces square in my dream lab bingo card!

The fridge in the corner of the store, the one Xuxi knows is stocked with the Arizona iced teas, leaks in heavy drops. He thinks it’s because it shares a wall with the freezer stocked high with bags of ice but he’s not paid to think, he’s paid to sit behind the counter overnight in the bodega—corner store, Kun insists, but the owner is a pretty Mexican woman and her Korean spouse so _Xuxi_ is going to call it the bodega that it is—mind his business, and play his Switch when there’s no one in the store.

There’s a lot of hours where no one is in the store. 

Xuxi checks the time, 3:45am, adjusts his cigarette behind his ear and sighs as the rhythmic dripping of the fridge punctuates the music crunching from the speakers. He's only got another forty-five minutes left of his shift. He can make it through this. Giselle swears nothing ever happens this shift and she can spend most of her time just on TikTok or filming TikToks and for the most part, that’s proven to be true.

The most excitement he’s seen since 11pm was a giggly couple stumbling in to buy condoms. they had to be about his age but they were both too shy to look him in the eye as they asked for the ultrathins and nearly tossed the cash at him before leaving. The girl, pretty and sweet, offered him a flushed wave and Xuxi winked at her. 

No use pretending like he didn’t know what they were doing, right?

But it’s been dead since then outside of people running in to grab midnight snacks, cigarettes, juul pods, or beer and Xuxi wants to take a nap. 

The bell on the door jingles lightly and when Xuxi looks up, the clock reads 4:00am. He doesn’t greet the customer, his bosses said that’s not really a part of the job, but he offers the boy a smile and a still wave as he looks up to see if there’s anyone behind the counter. 

He's small, thin form hidden behind a tan trench coat and a thickly knit black scarf, but from Xuxi’s vantage point behind the lifted counter, he can see that the boy’s legs are clad in sheer black tights and he’s wearing a pretty plaid skirt.

Xuxi wonders if he’d look good in a plaid skirt.

the boy inclines his head in Xuxi’s direction, golden wire glasses glinting in the yellow bodega lights before he turns and walks through the store to the dripping fridge.

Xuxi has never seen someone actually open it before. It's constantly stocked and people have brought Arizonas up to the register but he’s never seen anyone pull the door open and so he can’t help but lean against the counter and peek his head out to watch. It feels like if he doesn’t, that he’ll miss something very important. 

He could be wrong, obviously, and probably is, but he is curious and will not deny his curiosity. 

It’s not the witching hour anymore, after all.

The boy opens the door and stands on his toes to reach a shelf, pushing aside an Arizona black tea and grabbing a small glass bottle filled with…

...Is that _blood_?

He takes two more bottles and holds them in the crook of his arm before grabbing a can of honey ginseng Arizona. Xuxi has enough time to hop down from his vantage point as the boy closes the fridge and turns on his heel to come back to the counter. The little heels of his boots click on the linoleum and when their eyes meet Xuxi thinks that he should be a little afraid.

He’s not, though. Things are scarier when they try not to be.

He reaches his hands out to take the bottles—now that they're closer he is almost certain that they’re full of blood. He's got to ask a question about that at some point.—and set them on the counter. The Arizona is set down with a heavy ‘clink’ and Xuxi carefully turns one of the bottles around to see the price tag.

4.50. What a mundane price for something that could probably get their store shut down by the FDA. “14.50, do you want anything else?”

“Can I get a pack of extra polar ice?” Xuxi ducks to grab the gum while the boy digs in his wallet for a twenty. It’s crispy and Xuxi admires it for a second. “Is this your first overnight shift?” he asks while Xuxi makes his change, leaning against the counter while the clock ticks away somewhere behind Xuxi’s head. 

Xuxi pauses in counting the change and offers the boy a crooked smile. “What gave me away?”

“The name tag. Word of advice?” Xuxi nods, setting the 3.50 in the boy’s delicate palm. there’s a birthmark on the back of his hand. “If you work another night shift, put a fake name on it, or don’t wear it at all. Too many creatures steal names around here.”

Xuxi watches as each bottle is put into a thick canvas tote on his shoulder before the boy cracks open the can and takes a sip of the cool Arizona iced tea. He's got taste, honey ginseng is one of the only Arizona teas Xuxi can stomach. “Are you a name stealer?” he asks, leaning against the counter again. “Should I worry about the safety of my identity?”

“No, Xuxi,” the boy smiles, using his pinky to point at Xuxi, “but you might want to worry about the safety of your blood.”

Xuxi figured he’d say something like that. He can’t say that he’d mind if the pretty maybe-vampire in front of him wanted to suck him dry. He honestly might even offer his throat up readily, all the boy needs to do is ask. “Don’t you need my permission?” he teases, pulse racing, and doesn't miss the way the boy’s dark eyes dart to his throat. “And can’t you give me your name first?”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because you have mine and I want to know what I’m gonna be moaning when you drink my blood.” Xuxi smiles sweetly as the boy’s eyes widen before hooding with a slight quirk of his lips. It is an easy game to play and one that Xuxi relishes in when he gets to play it properly.

He takes another long sip of his Arizona and Xuxi watches his throat bob through his turtleneck. “My name is Renjun,” he says as he licks drops of tea from his lips, “and if I know this shift the way I think I do, you get off in ten minutes.”

Xuxi checks his phone and isn’t really surprised to find that it is 4:20 on the dot and he is almost ready to hand the store over to Yangyang for his hostile takeover. “So I do. What are you going to do about it?”

Renjun smiles, tapping his fingers against his can of iced tea. he’s so pretty and Xuxi knows that, to some degree, he should be fucking intimidated. He’s not though. There's something terribly comforting about Renjun that makes Xuxi want to step close to him and wrap his arms around him.

This is Xuxi’s first time meeting a vampire and he’s not surprised to find their pheromones a little tricky. Predators in human shapes have to be a little more clever than most.

They’re smiling at each other when the door slams open with the angry chiming of bells and Yangyang comes in like a hurricane with music absolutely blaring from his beats headphones. It’s a fairly typical Yangyang entrance and Xuxi offers him a wave.

Yangyang waves back and when Xuxi turns his attention back to where Renjun was standing, the boy is gone. 

It's 4:30am and Xuxi thinks that he’s met a vampire for the first time. He doesn’t tell Yangyang this as he packs up and clocks out, feigning exhaustion and waving the younger boy off. Before he leaves, though, he takes a long look at the fridge where Renjun’s bottles of blood and can of Arizona came from.

Have they always been there? Will they be there again?

Xuxi puts his airpods in to drown out the fat drips of the fridge as he bids Yangyang goodbye and leaves the store. It’s still some time until sunrise and Xuxi wonders as his music starts if it’s true that vampires can’t be out in the daylight. He walks the streets to his apartment with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the horizon and it’s not until he’s a few blocks away from the apartment building that he realizes he’s not alone.

He’s not surprised to find Renjun across the street when he turns his head to look. The can of Arizona iced tea is gone, probably long gone, but one of the bottles of blood is in his hand and as he holds Xuxi’s gaze, he takes a long sip from the bottle. The blood inside stains the inside of his lips red and Xuxi thinks he should be afraid. This is a predator showing Xuxi just how he feeds and Xuxi isn’t running away. 

It starts to drizzle and Renjun seems to startle across the street, his pretty flat ironed hair starting to plaster to his head. Xuxi has his backpack off of his shoulders and is digging through it for the umbrella he keeps there before he realizes and when he opens it, he waves Renjun across the street. It’s still too early for cars to be out and Renjun runs across the street to his side, hand slipping into the crook of Xuxi’s arm. He’s so very tiny, almost delicate, and Xuxi realizes that should make him scarier.

It’s always the smallest and prettiest of creatures that are the most deadly, after all.

But Renjun is small and wet and if Xuxi is to die because of anyone, he thinks that it would be nice to die under Renjun’s small hands. “Where are you going?” he asks as the rain falls around them and Renjun presses a little closer. the bottle of blood is still in his hand and he brings it up to take another sip.

Renjun’s tongue is redredred when the lip of the bottle pulls away and Xuxi is entranced for a moment before it’s back in Renjun’s mouth and he’s speaking. Xuxi stares at him. Wait.

Renjun’s going to his apartment building.

“Funny,” he says as casually as he can while they walk down the street. The city is stirring around them but the sky isn’t lightening just yet and won’t for a while longer. “I think we live in the same building.”

Renjun looks up at him, wet fringe in his eyes, and smiles just so. It’s not enough to show his teeth, which Xuxi imagines are probably a little red stained right now, but it’s sweet. Much like Xuxi finds Renjun to be sweet. “Do we?”

There is a plot in the little vampire’s eyes and Xuxi licks his lips slowly as they wait at a stoplight. The streets are slick before them and Xuxi tips the umbrella back a little to let the rain hit his face. “We do.” The rain catches onto his eyelashes and once he feels Renjun’s dark eyes on his face, he lets his eyes close.

Xuxi hears the moment Renjun sees the makeup on his face melt away in the rain water to reveal the markings on his cheeks. They're soft gold and glow lightly under the yellow streetlights but when Renjun reaches up to touch them, Xuxi lowers his head for him. His touch is featherlight, not enough to disturb but just enough to tickle, and Xuxi allows himself to lean into his hand. Vampires are cool by their nature and the rain keeps Renjun’s temperature low but the warmth coming from Xuxi’s skin starts to warm his palm. They stand there so long that the light changes twice and Renjun realizes as Xuxi’s mouth opens to reveal canines as long as his own, that he is not the only predator here.

Before the light changes again, Renjun looks down to the slick street beneath their feet. Xuxi’s shadow has a thick, fluffy tail and pointed ears. His tail sways idly from side to side but his fur is not on edge–he’s not threatened.

Renjun’s not offended by that, really, it’s not often that a vampire is outmatched in the streets of Seoul by a huli jing.

Their lips meet as thunder cracks overhead and Renjun sighs as the blood on his tongue is licked away. He'd planned to make Xuxi into a meal but as the umbrella falls and his arms wrap around the fox’s shoulders, Renjun is okay with his plans falling through for once.

**Author's Note:**

> drums on the table  
> come talk to me on twitter!  
> [twt](https://twitter.com/faeriedoyoung)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/faeriedoyoung)


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